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Wigan went down 24-22 to the Huddersfield Giants on Sunday afternoon when they visited a freezing and very wet Galpharm Stadium for the first pre-season friendly of 2007.
The Warriors named a 20-man squad for the game, with only Trent Barrett missing out due to a slight calf strain picked up in training on Friday; the star stand off is now expected to make his debut at Salford a week on Wednesday.
Huddersfield named a 21-man with John Sharp playing new boys Jamahl Lolesi, John Skandalis, Shane Elford and Darrell Griffin. Ryan Hudson also made his first appearance in over 2 years after serving a drugs ban.
However the afternoon will be better remembered for the freezing conditions and stormy weather than the performances on the field.
It was the Giants opened the scoring on 5 minutes through Shane Elford who touched down in the right hand corner from a Brad Drew grubber kick, although the Warriors defence should have been quicker to react to the bouncing ball. Chris Thorman added the extra’s to make it 6-0.
Mark Calderwood scored the Warriors first try of 2007. Some exciting attacking play kept pressure on the Giants line, a cross field kick from Leuluai was touched out of play by a Giants hand. From the scrum the ball moved left to right before Phil Bailey was tackled close to the line. Sean O’Loughlin’s quick dummy left and pass right putting Calderwood in at the corner. Richards missed the conversion. 6-4.
Huddersfield were next to score through Steve Snitch, converted by Thorman, before the impressive Gareth Hock buried his way over from acting half back on 33 minutes. Pat Richards kicking the two to make it 12-10.
Former Wiganer Kevin Brown extended the lead for the Giants after the Warriors failed to again clear a grubber kick with the conversion from Thorman making the score 18-10 at Half Time.
The half time break brought a torrential downpour which made for a messy opening to the second half; however it was the home team who adapted best to the conditions scoring first through Kevin Brown who touched down another grubber kick which the Warriors defence again failed to deal with. Thorman’s kick made it 24-10 after 50 minutes.
The Warriors responded with a close range try from Gareth Hock, scoring his second, and conversion from Pat Richards.
The second half continued in scrappy fashion with both sides making uncharacteristic mistakes as the weather told and got used to the speed of competitive rugby.
And it was a mistake from Giants full back Paul Reilly which lead to the Warriors next try. An O’Loughlin chip kick was spilled by the full back with Leuluai collecting and feeding Harrison Hansen who scored spectacularly under the sticks. Richards converted to make it 24-22 with 15 minutes remaining.
Although the Warriors finished the stronger, the sleet and hail returned making it almost impossible to string together a cohesive attack and the Giants hung on to win 24-22.
So the Warriors went down narrowly in front of a big traveling support that made up much of the 3960 crowd. Brian Noble will no doubt be pleased in particular with the performance of Gareth Hock, while Sean O’Loughlin looked strong and Thomas Leuluai was sharp both in attack and defence. Apart from the defensive lapses from grubber kicks, the Warriors also defended strongly and they will be looking to build on these positives as they now turn there attentions to Salford on Wednesday week.
Wigan Warriors: Chris Ashton,
Mark Calderwood,
Phil Bailey,
David Vaealiki,
Pat Richards,
Sean O'Loughlin,
Thomas Leuluai,
Iafeta Paleaaesina,
Mick Higham,
Stuart Fielden,
Gareth Hock,
Bryan Fletcher,
Joel Tomkins
Subs: Darrell Goulding,
Michael Withers,
Paul Prescott,
Shane Millard,
Eamon O'Carroll,
Harrison Hansen,
Danny Hill
Tries: Mark Calderwood,
Gareth Hock(2),
Harrison Hansen
Goals: Pat Richards(3)
Huddersfield Giants: Thorman, Gardner, Nero, Lolesi, Elford, Brown, Paul, Skandalis, Drew, Mason, Snitch, Crabtree, Wild
Subs: Hudson, Raleigh, Smith, Reilly, Griffin, Jackson, Cudjoe, Hemingway
Tries: Elford, Snitch, Brown (2)
Goals: Thorman (4)
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